ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana bolted to a 60-29 halftime lead Friday and cruised to a 93-67 victory over Aurora in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament at Carver Center. The third-ranked Vikings improved to 25-3 on the year and advanced to Saturday's second round against 24th-ranked Capital (21-7), a 78-76 overtime winner over UW-Platteville in Friday's first game. The Spartans finished their season 17-12.

 

Augustana got a Nolan Ebel (Regis Jesuit HS, Denver, Colo.) three-pointer 18 seconds in and would lead wire-to-wire.
 
Despite early foul trouble that put Aurora in the bonus barely six minutes in, the margin grew quickly. Consecutive Pierson Wofford (Springfield Lutheran HS, Springfield, Ill.) buckets made it 18-9 at the 14:40 mark of the first half. Brett Benning (Dakota HS, Davis, Ill.) followed with a jumper and then found Micah Martin (Iowa City HS, Iowa City, Iowa) all alone under the basket for a dunk that made it 22-9.
 
Benning hit for three and then two before Ebel drilled two straight treys and the Vikings led 33-15 at the midway point of the first half.
 
The margin grew to 20 (35-15) on a Lucas Simon (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) tip-in and consecutive Chrishawn Orange (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) three-pointers put the hosts up 45-21 with 7:13 left in the first half. Benning's jumper at the five-minute mark pushed the advantage past 30 (52-21) for the first time and Joe Kellen's (Rockford Lutheran HS, Rockford, Ill.) three from the left corner beat the halftime buzzer and sent Augustana to the locker room with a 60-29 lead.
 
The Vikings shot a blistering .657 from the field in the opening 20 minutes on 23 of 35, including 10 of 15 (.667) from beyond the arc. Augustana limited the Spartans to seven of 23 (.304) from the floor and 0-for-6 from long range, but put them at the free throw line 17 times, where they converted 15.
 
Ebel assisted on Benning's fourth three-pointer of the night, as the Vikings went up 68-34 with 17:11 to play. He came off the floor for good at the 15:57 mark, as Coach Grey Giovanine began to sub out his regulars. Benning's fifth trey gave Augustana its biggest lead at 71-34 with 15:21 to play and his night ended seconds later as well.
 
The Spartans chipped away against the Viking bench, eventually trimming the deficit to 23 (79-56) on two Terrell Wilson free throws, but a Donovan Ferguson (Downers Grove South HS, Darien, Ill.) dunk stemmed the tide and Carson Frakes (Rockridge HS, Illinois City, Ill.) hit a pair of three-pointers in the closing minutes, as Augustana built the lead back up to 28 before a De' Ante Walker layup accounted for the final.
 
Benning finished with 21 points in just 17 minutes of action. He hit eight of 11 from the field, including five of six from behind the arc. Orange finished with 14 points, five rebounds and three assists. Ebel had 13 points and four assists in just 14 minutes and Wofford tallied 11. Kellen and Frakes (nine points) had team highs of five assists and six rebounds, respectively, off the bench. Wilson led Aurora with 15 points.
 
The Vikings finished the night 33 of 60 (.550) from the field. Their 14 three-point field goals were one short of a school record and came on 21 attempts—good for a .667 percentage. They were 13 of 21 (.619) from the foul line. The Spartans shot .364 (20-55) from the floor, .250 (5-20) from three-point range and .846 (22-26) from the free throw line. Augustana controlled the glass by a 41-28 margin and committed 18 turnovers to 17 for Aurora.
 
Tipoff for the Augustana-Capital contest is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Saturday, March 2 at Carver Center.